Object Based Image Analysis and Data Mining applied to a remotely sensed Landsat time-series to map sugarcane over large areas

Abstract

The aim of this research was to develop a methodology for contributing in the automation of sugarcane mapping over large areas, with time-series of remotely sensed imagery. To this end, two major techniques were combined: Object Based Image Analysis (OBIA) and Data Mining (DM). OBIA was used to represent the knowledge needed to map sugarcane, whereas DM was applied to generate the knowledge model. To derive the image objects, the segmentation algorithm implemented in Definiens Developer® was used. The data mining algorithm used was J48, which generates decision trees (DT) from a previously prepared training set. The study area comprises three municipalities located in the northwest of São Paulo state, all of which are good representatives of the agricultural conditions in the Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil. A time series of Landsat TM and ETM+ images was acquired in order to represent the wide range of pattern variation along the sugarcane crop cycle. After training, the DT was applied to the Landsat time series, thus generating the desired thematic map with sugarcane ready to harvest. Classification accuracy was calculated over a set of 500 points not previously used during the training stage. Using error matrix analysis and Kappa statistics, tests for statistical significance were derived. The statistics indicated that the classification achieved an overall accuracy of 94% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.87. Results show that the combination of OBIA and DM techniques is very efficient and promising for the sugarcane classification process.